Saved from the start
by The-Female-Inuyasha
Summary: He had been missing for days, until they found him in a forest. He looked dead and, somehow, he was. They want to help. To bad It may kill the rest of the group to learn what killed him. (Suggested rape (Lime) InuKag.)
1. The starting

Ok. This is my side story. I'm working on when at my aunties… I'm here like everyday, so this story with get updated a lot. I hope. So bear with my short chapters and me.

* * *

I knew I had to get out. I had to get up, and run. Just go somewhere… Get back to them. My body couldn't take much more of this abuse. My spirit was broken, and fighting for any rush of adrenalin I could conjure up to escape. If I kept faith, my spirit could survive. I had to wait until the time as right.

I lost track of time, being trapped from the sun and working all night could do that. There was never a time I wish I had Kagome's "wrist watch" more than right now. There was never a time I wish I had Kagome more than right now. I wanted to be safe again. Just to sit around the campfire, listening to mindless conversations and pretend that I wasn't actually paying attention, when I was. When I was actually clinging to every word everyone said.

Ramen sounded good right now as well. Anything food related sounded good to my agonizing stomach. I reached down to my thin, pale and abused stomach to rub away a sudden hunger pain like many nights before. Yes food sounded good, but ramen was the heavens light. It could mean so many things. Everything being back to normal… Being with my friends…. Joining in our day to day quest and adventures…. I didn't want this nightmare to be real.

* * *

I struggled to open my eyes. I was sure the spark of life was gone. My soul wasn't in them anymore like people had claimed they were. I didn't display my emotions in them anymore… I didn't feel emotions anymore. They made me weak in the first place. My eyelids fell once I seen the same old hut I was trapped in.

I just couldn't keep them open. I was exhausted, working so hard. Really, I knew I could've opened my eyes again. I just didn't want to see that retched ceiling again. I didn't want to be here. I decided I would never be here again.

So I waited until midnight, and I silently sized up the strength of the wooden walls compared to my own remaining strength. For days I have been pounding, scratching and even screaming at the walls to open up. To let me go, and I think tonight they will listen. I had weakened dramatically through out the time, been injured everywhere…

But so had the walls. Tonight I could feel it. I was getting out of here tonight. I heard her sickening voice carry down to where she held me in the cellar. She was leaving again. Her cracking voice, withered with age, informed me she was getting a new plaything. Maybe she knew she was loosing her old one?

I swiped at the wood, dampened with my blood and sweat from the days I leaned against it, punched it, or cried against it.

I body slammed the cracking wood a couple of times, throwing all my energy into each hit. Finally, the walls broke through and I landed on the hard ground. The heavy wood thumped against my back, its sharp edges driving into my skin. And then it cracked. My back put up with so much stress, carried me through out my life, ever faithful.

And it just cracked.

I clenched my jaw and hissed in pain. This was a stupid setback, nothing more. I could keep going. Numbly, I shakily pulled my stinging feet under me. It hurt to stand. To move my limbs, it was agonizing, nearly impossible. But I did it. I stumbled away from the dark, odorous cabin and into the dark, deadly silent, forest.

My hands gripped at trees to keep my balance when I knew my legs were about to give out. My back was screaming at me, threatening to kill me. But I ignored it. I would be killed. I would be killed if she knew I was this far away, and this close to freedom.

* * *

In the middle the forest I collapsed, leaning against a tree I had struggled for balance against.

As I panted for breath, fighting off darkness I thought of things. I thought about what I had escaped from. I was letting the darkness win, finding peace for a little while, when I knew that my bones would heal easily…

But my spirit was hanging on by a thread. My spirit was gasping for its final breath. On the border of life and death my spirit clung. I could only hope they will find me, before she does….

Cause I give up.

And just like that…

My spirit fell.


	2. Always Hard To Wake

Chapter 2.

I don't know how long it has been now, since I found my blackened peace, but I could tell it didn't last long. My sleep deprived body cried out for more relaxation, but my over whelming curiosity lifted my eyelids. The smell, feel and even warmth of the area I found myself in told me I was no longer leaning against a hard tree.

I was in a campground.

I almost panicked; my body went rigid as I prepared to struggle against my broken pride and spirit that told me I was better off dead, until I felt something….

The numerous wounds, cuts and broken bones were wrapped up. And the best thing about it, is that my nose, which was so used to smelling grime, lust and poison smelt my heavens light. Ramen. The noodle cup that symbolized so much was here. Meaning…

I was safe.

As I looked around I could see various objects. Kagome's bike, Sango's Hirakoutsu, Miroku's staff… and as I looked around further I could see other things that meant I was home. My rigid body didn't relax, my pride healed over, I was certain they had seen me already, so sure they were the ones to fix my battered body….

But, added to the list of the things I didn't want, I didn't want them to see me. I didn't want them to know what I went through, I just wanted everything to go back to normal, to pretend this didn't happen, heal, and be done with it.

* * *

It must've been hours before everyone came back. The girls, I could smell with out opening my eyes, were cleaned and freshly pampered in Kagome's modern day soap, Shippou as well. If they were taking a bath, and Miroku went with them... I could visualize his head, and cheek full of bruises. Just like the old times I wanted.

My eyes remained closed. For just a while longer, I wanted to pretend that nothing had happened to me…. I didn't want to face their questions.

"I can't believe you…" A woman's voice hummed angrily, my head started to pound, running side by side with my racing heart. Now that I was thinking, truly thinking, I knew I didn't want them here. Not now… I wanted to be near them, I don't want them to see me.

It starting toliterally hurt. The pain that will come with all their questions…

It's agony already, those memories. The one's I wish would just leave me be, and if my some lucky chance, leave me with hope so my spirit can rise again.

"Lady Sango…" Miroku said slowly, his calm voice thick with explanations.

"Not this time Houshi-sama!" Sango growled.

"He is badly hurt,"I always found it adorable how, even when she was angry, Kagome's voice was almost meek. Innocent. "He needed to be watched over…"

Those words hit me hard. I don't need protection. I am protection. There was a pause in verbal language, but even with out opening my eyes I could see both women, perhaps even a kitsune, glaring at the monk. The footsteps stopped beside me, everyone hovering over my supposedly unconscious form.

Kagome's voice softened, her eyes now on me. "I wonder what happened," She murmured quietly. That seemed to break the angry spell over everyone- mostly everyone.

"He never looked so…. Beaten before." Shippou said, snuggling closer to Kagome. Was it true? Did I really look that bad? All my life I had been rotting on the inside, keeping everything bad tearing at me. But no one noticed, I was skilled at the challenge of hiding things.

Wearing a mask that no one bothered to even try to see through until Kagome came along. I wish she didn't pry into my past, I wish she didn't know about everything that hurt me. She doesn't deserve to be bothered by my pain. She needs to be happy… I don't need sympathy, I need to see her happy.

Then my spirit would be free…. Would be, if it weren't dead.

"Kagome-sama" Miroku said softy, his violet eyes trained on her. She didn't answer; at least, I didn't hear one. "Knowing him, he might try to pretend nothing is wrong. His ego is to big, he wouldn't want sympathy…." The monk trailed off.

It was scary how much he knew.

"That's too bad" Shippou cut in. "Because that's all we can offer…"

I could tell Kagome went rigid after those words where in the open. They could fix my body; they could act like everything was normal…

But what could they really do to revive my soul?

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I know It's short, but I'm telling you now, my chapters will be short but quickly updated. Please review.

Review responses.

_I'm going to respond to reviews since my chapters are short, and I didn't get alot. _

**May20:**Thank you. I didn't think i did a good enough job describing, but it was one of my 'off' days. Like the beginning of this chapter, actually. Thank you for the review, you were the first one. So for that, you get a cookie... _Hands you a cookie._ Hope to hear from you again!

**Halfdemon-Kai: **Thank you, you just did some ego brushing. There is others out there that are better in the art of writting then I am, but I thank you nontheless. If you hang in there, I'm sure you will be able to tell stories better than I can. Maybe you already can, I dont think I read anything of yours. Im glad you like the story.

**KuramasKitsuneGirl: **Heh. Thank you. I think this is the update you wanted...? Thank you for th review, I hope you continue to read this fic. But, it's really up to you.

**Inushosetai:** If you read this chapter, This is what's going to happen. Not a cliff hanger this time. Thank you for taking the time to review!


	3. Just To See

The words of a child can hurt, the sickening innocence, the _truth_ they spout out can make anyone think about their actions and intentions. At time like these, I wonder how anyone could hurt a child. Hurt something so innocent, so pure, intentionally. It's sick.

The words of the child kitsune slapped everyone across the face. Their hopes quickly crumbled, leaking downwards like the frowns in their faces. Maybe that's how they should be? Being happy, cheerful, it was all a waste. No one cared if you were happy. They only lived to ruin you.

Every man for himself 

It was almost saddening to think about Kagome with no smile on her face, no fire in her eyes. She was meant to be happy.

So maybe I was the only one? The only one meant to feel pain. But why…?

* * *

_She held me close, rubbing her chest against my hip as she slowly traced kisses upwards. I groaned, tried to scream and get away, but the poison that she fed me was already coursing through my bloodstream. It was in my body, and I couldn't move. I groaned again as she lips pressed harshly against my chest._

_I pushed away from her, stubbornly closing my eyes. If I couldn't see, I couldn't feel._

_"Silly puppy." She purred. She dipped low to lick my bare chest before talking again. Her voice was thick with lust; her dark eyes twinkled with amusement. And at that moment I wanted to scream at her, take her eyes from her head and shove them down her throat._

_Watch her bleed and gag as I laughed and she died._

_"It's time.." My brain was slowing down, she moved in fuzzy waves now. _

_"W-Why?" I asked, my throat was frozen with a burning ice._

_A smirk formed on her bloody lips, I almost was glad that I couldn't feel her tearing at my skin or pressing herself against me. I gagged once. _

_"Because, my toy, you're a hanyou. Nothing more. A mere object of my-" She moaned slightly and trailed her tongue on my neck, leaving burning saliva. "My desire." _

_I could've puked at that time, the poison would more than let me, but I was frozen in my spot. Hanyou, my tainted blood caused this pain… _

* * *

"We should let him sleep…." Kagome's sweet voice gently hummed through my hazy brain. She sounded disappointed.

"But Kagome-chan! He has been sleeping for a long time…" Shippou cried, probably clinging to her white sleeves.

Kagome made no reply.

* * *

It was the next night than I decided to open my eyes, and as I did, I came face to face with a very concerned Kagome.

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Just look at this... A very short chapter, after a very long period of time. Damn... And.. YAY FOR NO PLOTS. 


	4. Kagome Part1

The one night I decided to stay in my time for an extra day. After all, what was the damage? I was sure Inuyasha could hold off shard hunting until I was back, and from what I heard, nothing really happened when I was gone. I felt like it was my right to stay with my family…

But that's the night when I couldn't sleep, and when I cried for a reason I didn't know. It was this sickening feeling, my whole body was shaking and I couldn't stop it. Little did I know that that was the night Inuyasha went missing?

I returned early to the feudal age, sprinted through the forest named after my beloved and tripped at the famous tree. I took my time getting up, slowly looking up at the hugeness of the tree trunk, the slowly moving branches and the sunlight filtering through the twinkling leaves.

It was a beautiful sight that caused my heart to sink. It was practically the same sight I first seen Inuyasha; the only difference was that he wasn't there. Tears trickled down my cheeks, but I made no move to wipe them away. My heart was heavy with grief, and it sank a little bit more.

When I pulled myself up, I took a moment to watch the tree before me; the only sound was the blowing breeze against the green leaves. I walked towards the tree and placed my hand on the trunk. I suddenly felt a little reassured, but it did little to calm myself.

When I pulled my hand back, I took my time to get to the village. I made sure all my tears were locked away, and put a turmoil free expression on my face. The sun was beating down on all the land, which also made me feel a little better but my thoughts kept retuning to Inuyasha, what could have happened to him…

But a logical (Or denying) part of my brain asked me why I was so upset. Nothing was wrong, and I was just over-reacting. It was my lack of sleep, or the upcoming math exam causing me to feel so depressed and worried. Maybe my time of the month was fast approaching? Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with Inuyasha, and it wasn't serious.

I walked into Kaede's shelter, a forced smile on my lips. It faltered. Inside the hut, almost everyone was in the same mood I was in previously. Solemn expressions greeting me as I stepped away from the makeshift door. Kaede didn't look at anybody, she stared down at the bowl of tea she held, steam drifting up and tickling her olden skin.

Miroku was almost the same as Kaede, no expression was on his face, but in his eyes shown all the pain he was feeling. He held his staff the same way Inuyasha held Tessaiga when he was sleeping, leaned against his shoulder while he folded his arms around it. He didn't look up at me, either.

Sango did her best to smile as she seen me, but it was forced, and clashed with the unshed tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth to greet me, but no sound was made. She quickly clamped her lips together, before chewing on her bottom one. I could tell she had been doing this for a while, because it was swollen and plump. She looked away from me, as if saddened by my presence. Maybe she just didn't have the words.

Shippou was in her arms; he was the only one openly crying. His tiny shoulders shook as he took a ragged breath in, more tears leaking from his childish eyes. He grabbed his fox feet, sitting straightly on Sango's lap. He sniffled and looked at me.

A sign of happiness filtered through the tears in his eyes, but it faded quickly. He got up from Sango's lap and leaped at him, his arms out, as he was ready to embrace me. I caught him quickly, only a brief look of shock on my face. It was gone, replaced with concern as the kit resumed crying.

I looked around, looking at each of them again, before moving forwards and seating myself beside Sango. She pulled her lip between her teeth again, grinding it softly. For a minute it looked like she was going to speak again, but the hut remained soundless, only Shippou's sobs to chase of an uncomfortable silence.

I patted his back before taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth to speak but Miroku beat me to the punch.

"Inuyasha has been kidnapped." His voice was silent, sorrow wearing it down. I gasped, my eyes wide. I thought I didn't hear him right, so I shook my head in a soft motion and squeaked.

"P-Pardon?" He looked uncomfortable, almost as if he was trying to find courage to speak again. Fortunately for him Kaede was able to speak, and she retold the tail that was only recently told to her. Apparently, A demon puppet came in the night. There was a huge battle, no one hurt but the puppet. In the end, a tentacle was shot through Inuyasha's gut, laced with poison that caused him to lose consciousness.

That's when the tentacle wrapped around his waste and carried him into the barred, and they both slowly disappeared. As they were fading, Naraku's voice told them not to come to find him, for Inuyasha wasn't staying with him, but with a close friend that was told to treat him as she found fit.

They all reassembled at the hut, telling the story and sinking into depressed thoughts. If I weren't so numb, I would've found it ironic how I didn't feel as sad as I did coming out of the well and finding no Inuyasha nearby. No more tears came out of my eyes that day, and deep into the night.

We spent most of out time to ourselves, even Shippou stopped crying, settling into the empty phase with me. But unlike anyone else, he didn't leave my side. He stayed by me. I thought it was because he felt more comfortable, or maybe it was because he was scared I was about to leave, too.

For weeks we moped around, moving from town to town, looking for a whisper About Inuyasha or anyone who would be interested in keeping him. We found none. It was the next night, after was strayed from a different village that we made a campfire and all sat around it. For some reason our hearts didn't weep alone, and we all found a comfort by being together.

We conversed well into the night, a lighthearted topic. This is how I pictured Inuyasha would've wanted it, normal. Like he wasn't gone at all. If he were dead (Like we grew to assume) then he wouldn't want us to be depressed. My smile was real that night, and my brain wasn't sifting through morbid death scenes.

I almost felt like everything was going to be back to normal, and soon, too.

The conversation drifted from idle topic and onto Inuyasha. The feeling was gone, and instantly we felt alone. Shippou tucked himself in my lap, holding my hand with both of his alarmingly small hands. Sango scooted closer to Miroku, not as a romantic gesture, but because I could tell she felt as alone as I did.

Miroku reached out and grabbed her hand, which she squeezed back. If Inuyasha was with me, I would've jumped up and laughed, telling him I told him that they liked each other. That idea made me feel more wrong than ever.

Shippou shook his head and tried to cheer us up before bed. Sango brought him to bed, leaving Miroku and I alone. Alone. We all felt so alone. And then there was this fiery hand squeezing my throat.

"Stupid Inuyasha!" I spat, unable to control what I was saying. I wanted to cry. "He should've been stronger!" And I did cry, I started to sob. Miroku looked surprised, confused at my outburst before he calmly listened to what I had to say.

"He shouldn't have let that thing take him! He should've fought harder. He shouldn't have been alone! Why didn't you help him?" I felt like it was everyone's fault. I wanted to scream at everyone for letting this happen. "Curse that Naraku into hell! Why did he do this?"

And that's when my heart pointed the blaming finger at myself and I knew it was true. "Why did I have to stay at home an extra day? I should have been there! I could have burst through the barrier with my arrow!" I continued to cry, my throat aching from the sobs, my stomach hurting. I was blinded with tears, numb with sorrow.

I felt so lost, so alone and numb that I almost didn't notice Miroku wrap his arms around me. I openly cried into his chest, the first time I really cried since I learned Inuyasha was gone. I soon calmed myself, now feeling more stupid than upset. Miroku didn't seem to have a problem. In fact, he almost seemed proud that I cried.

I excused myself to bed and fell asleep quickly. Miroku stayed awake, allowing me to leave. When I woke up, he was still sitting by the fire, though that by now was just smoke billowing into the gray skies. It wasn't a pleasant day.

We traveled again, through the rain. Though, again, we all felt better. Miroku was up to his antics again, making grabs at Sango, and then Shippou would call him an idiot under his breath. Sango would smack him, and I would shake my head.

After the rain got to unbearable, we once again made a shelter in the forest and slept early, we were almost all sleeping until Kirara growled loudly, Shippou jumped, and the rest of us groggily sat up.

Kirara burst into flames and flew into the forest, despite Sango's frantic calls of protest. We all got up and ran after the two-tail fire demon, worried out of our sleepy minds. We caught sight of Kirara slowing down, and eventually stopping in the middle of a dark and rather spooky looking forest.

And that's when we seen the collapsed body of Inuyasha, leaning against a tree.

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To Be Continued...

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Bwahahaha. Stay tuned for part.2


	5. Kagome 2

He was ghostly pale and smelt of wet wood and grime. I was pleased to see his Kimono made of fur was still intact, but it too smelt disgusting. He was slumped over; completely lax and his back took an unnatural arch. In the light of the moon it was over obvious to see that his face was smudged with blood and dirt, shadowed by his dull, greasy hair. From his position, I could see the shades of blood most of his body was painted with, contributing to the stomaching churning smell.

His image got blurry, and I had to blink my eyes to clear it. Upon opening my eyes, a tear trailed down my cheek. I could see bruises and scratches both deep and shallow littered across his pale skin and faded red Kimono, but compared to the dark and gloomy forest (Which also had a certain moist sent) he glowed. And despite his rather perished looks, he was the most beautiful thing I could see right now.

I rushed to his side, grabbing his left shoulder. That was all it took to send his body falling face first. The others rushed to his side as well. All worried about him. He was so still, so limp. We all feared the worst. Shippou was crying loudly, and Kirara mewing in despair. It took me that long to realize I was also sobbing, Sango's hand on my shoulder.

I turned to the girl with tears streaming down my already damp face. Dirt smeared. She didn't say anything, just gathered me into a hug and helped me stand. She held me for a while and supported me. My knees felt weak, and if she wasn't there, I was sure I would've fallen. I cried into her chest for a few minutes feeling gross and responsible for what had happened.

"Sango," Miroku had said after a few moments. She didn't release me, but I could feel her head shift to look at him. He waited a moment before speaking again. "Take her and Shippou to the nearest hot-spring. Me and Kirara will take Inuyasha back to our camp."

Sango took a step away from me, but held onto my shoulders as she gazed into my eyes. I could see now that she was also crying. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked, to which I nodded while swallowing a hiccup. She wrapped her arm around me and we unsteadily began to walk away.

I could feel Sango stumble, causing me to snap from my depressing thoughts and look at her, surely looking surprised. Shippou climbed up from her arm and rested on her shoulder, too tired to continue on his own. Sango silently agreed to carry him. I took a look over my shoulder to see Kirara transform in a whirl of blinding fire. Looking on I seen Miroku wrap Inuyasha's arm around his shoulder and was surprised to see Inuyasha vaguely nodding to the words I couldn't hear the monk say.

I watched Inuyasha slowly tuck his knees under himself and then rely on Miroku to help him stand. The dark haired monk said something else, Inuyasha nodded again and then his head rolled forward, and he dropped and almost brought Miroku down with him.

I tensed, my legs locked, ready to spring to Inuyasha. Sango stopped me. She shook her head and whispered "Not now" I knew she was right. Something inside of me knew that by seeing his eyes, my heart would break. So supporting each other, Sango, Shippou and I continued to hobble to the spring.

The water was relaxing. The heat burned off the sweat and tears that gathered over the days. It was embarrassing to see how much I left myself go. Now that I was in the water and cleaned I felt better. The water lapping onto my body gently massaged all tenseness away, and I finally felt good enough to sleep. Sango sighed and leaned against a cool rock. She was tired, and pale.

Now that I had time to relax and think I knew I was being pretty selfish during the duration of Inuyasha gone missing. Moping around all day and feeling sorry for myself didn't give me much time to worry about how the others were taking it. Sango was close to Inuyasha. She felt obligated to stay by him through the good and the bad.

"I'm sorry."

She looked at me, her beautiful eyes showing a mild shock. "Pardon?" I smiled at her, sorrowfully. I then turned my eyes to the water, and continued my apology.

"When Inuyasha went missing, I didn't really pay attention to anyone else…" The smile on my face dropped as I spotted my reflection, wavering. Shippou floated by on the floatation device I had provided for him (We had stopped by at camp to gather bathing supplies) and rippled my reflection. He was sleeping already. "I just only though about myself… About Inuyasha…"

I jumped as I felt Sango wrap her cold and wet arm around my slumped shoulders. My eyes scanned over the girl with a gentle smile on her face. "Kagome-Chan." She murmured. "You weren't the only one. We all thought only of Inuyasha and ourselves while he was missing. No one blames you."

During her speech, I couldn't help but cry a little and nod thankfully. I was about to voice my gratefulness when a loud rustling in the bushes caught our attention. Sango removed her hand from around my neck and crossed them over her chest.

I dipped lower in the water, covering my own chest. As expected, Miroku walked out of the bushes and outstretched his arms. "May I accompany you two?" His smile was innocent, but perversely placed. I could hear a low rumble produced by the girl next to me, causing me to wonder when she learned to growl. A fond smile possessed my lips as I thought over how normal things had become now. Inuyasha was back.

…Inuyasha…

"Inuyasha!" I screamed, grabbing a towel from the shore bank. I ran frantically to my bag and ripped it from its position on the ground. While running into a bush I heard Shippou awaken and Sango begin to scream at the monk. I didn't care at the moment; instead my thoughts repeated the single name of my love.

_Be safe._


	6. Another Kagome POV

We had left the spring in a heated argument while nearly running back. Miroku excused himself from leaving Inuyasha's side, claiming that he was bored, or that something had possessed him, and then he apologized an annoyingly large amount of times. Deep down we already forgave him, though he didn't get out of it with out a few good smacks and some reasonable insults.

Miroku threw out another apology; backing it up humbly with his most heart felt expression. The earnest look in his eye was enough to know that he meant it but we all just needed someone to blame at the moment. I almost expected Shippou to mumble about Miroku being an idiot, but the fox didn't say anything.

And it was slightly unnerving. Was I being so selfish again that I didn't notice he was tore up about Inuyasha's condition?

We had made it to camp, walking out of the first layer of trees and bushes. Miroku pushed back a branch for us and waited till we had walked passed him before letting the branch snap back and following us, being the chivalrous monk he was. My heart stopped thumping painfully when I noticed the campsite was in one piece, not a pebble out of place. And there lay Inuyasha, beaten and looking half-dead.

My beautiful Inuyasha lay still, though it seemed like he was almost aware of what was going on. I stopped walking and sighed while Sango walked past me, Miroku hot on her tail.

"I can't believe you…" Sango sighed, though her beautiful voice stuck out.

I watched Inuyasha's eyebrows lower, a sweat breaking loose.

"Lady Sango…" Miroku grabbed his shoulder, causing the girl to blush and look at him. I knew that Sango was melting in his violet eyes and didn't have enough control to continue to argue with him. I stepped in as her heroine while shifting my eyes away from Inuyasha.

"He is badly hurt." I knew the poor guy was feeling horrible, and I felt guilty for continuing this. I shook my head and looked at the ground. It was almost like I was going to cry. We were all scared and emotional. We were all so tired and emotional. The feeling of a cool breeze blew against my wet skin, causing me to shiver slightly. I had changed at the bush but didn't bother drying off completely.

"He needed to be watched over..." I murmured, and then allowed silence to settle in. In the solemn/angry mood, Sango lightly pulled away from Miroku to gather her things and prepare for the night. Miroku took Shippou to his bed and sat heavily, leaning against a tree where his staff resided.

I continued to stand; watching my feet and the debris shift with the light breeze while everyone went to do his or her nightly routines. I had assumed once we found Inuyasha things wouldn't seem so depressing, and the air wouldn't be so thick with a burning dread. Oh how that was wrong. Spotting him in that condition… In the state where death seemed merciful…

I took a step, which seemed to catch everyone's attention. They moved along side me, until we were a step or two away from the slumbering form of Inuyasha. His skin was pale, his cuts and bruises standing out, purple in the cold and smeared with black blood. A flush marred his pale cheeks, and I could now see that he was under the influence of a fever.

It was a while before anyone moved; Shippou hugged my shoulder, awake with the rush. His eyes scanned over Inuyashas' form lowering with understanding and drowning in tears need to be shed. Instead I watched him close his eyes and turn his head away while he composed himself. He wasn't going to cry anymore tonight even if he needed to.

I opened my mouth to speak, but air didn't come. That caused my voice to be softer than I intended, but maybe that was a good thing. No one was disturbed but everyone had heard. "I wonder what happened…." I noticed no one seemed as angry as they did before, just calm—solemn. The kit, which had also calmed drastically, looked back at Inuyasha and murmured jus as quietly as I did.

I've never seen him look so…."-He searched for a word on Inuyasha's body, his green eyes scanning it up and down as he made a one worded summary for his condition-"Beaten before…" I felt him hug me tighter, rest his head against me and close his eyes against the horrific sight.

Sango remained silent as she watched Inuyasha's breathing patterns. She had sworn to be with him through the good and the bad, but how bad did she expect it to get. Full youkai, perhaps. But never did we assume he'd be kidnapped, beaten, broken and misplaced.

Miroku cleared his throat silently; I side glanced to him on my left, feeling guilty for yelling at him. It was true, I just needed someone to blame. But it was unfair. It was almost like I was blaming him for everything that had happening, all the cuts on Inuyasha, and all the tears I had shed. He wasn't to blame.

In fact, if it weren't for him I'd be a bigger wreck than I was.

So who was to blame?

Who was Naraku's little friend? Whoever…

I was going to find and destroy it.

My body relaxed against my will, and my eyes studied Inuyasha again. He was still Inuyasha, abused or not. And I still loved him. I almost blushed when I heard myself think that. But it was true, and I fully admitted it to myself.

"Kagome-sama" I jumped and turned to Miroku, his face straight, and his eyes dead on me. It almost looked like he wasn't the one who had spoken at first. I was about to turn and looked somewhere else until he began to speak again. "Knowing him," he indicated to the unconscious hanyou, "he might try and pretend like nothing's wrong. His ego is too big, he won't want sympathy."

I closed my eyes and nodded at the time Shippou chose to speak. From the direction of his voice I could tell he was still looking at Inuyasha.

"That's to bad… Because that's all we can offer…" Involuntarily my body stiffened and tears built up behind my eyes.

* * *

Uh. If there's any mistakes live with it. It was going to be a helluva lot longer, but my computer is being assy and it deleted half of it. But hey, I was lucky it saved so much. 


End file.
